New 968 HP Ferrari Unveiled at Geneva – Corvette Better Get Busy!

Ferrari has just unveiled its newest “supercar”, LaFerrari, at the Geneva Auto Show. This is the same show that the C7 Corvette convertible will be introduced. The new Ferrari is powered by a V12 engine that produces 800 HP and is supplemented by and electric motor which adds another 163 HP bringing the total to a staggering 963 HP. LaFerrari, which means “The Ferrari” in Italian, is their first gasoline electric hybrid model.

The cost of all this power and technology doesn’t come cheap. The replacement for the “Enzo” will cost over $1.5 million after taxes and only 499 will be built. Comparatively the GM engineers should be proud of what the new C7 delivers, especially when the price is taken into consideration. By my calculation you could buy 25 new C7’s for the price of Ferrari’s new toy.

The Ferrari, with twice as much horsepower as the C7, will get to 60 MPH in under three seconds, about a second faster than the base C7 with the LT1 engine, but it seems logical that once the Corvette engineers get done tweaking the new engine for the Z06 that the Corvette will come a lot closer to the V12’s numbers. Hopefully the engineers at GM are looking at 750 HP or more for the upgraded engine. In any case the crew over at GM needs to get busy and get the new engine to market.

Finally for my money I’d take the C7. But as a traditional Corvette aficionado I will have to give the Ferrari this, though the look of the new Ferrari is 100% “”supercar”, the Ferrari stylists were able to keep the traditional round Ferrari taillights. But they probably aren’t worth an additional $1.4 million.

The new “La Ferrari” unveiled at Geneva. Photo by Georgia Chapman

Rick Tavel writes about automobiles with an emphasis on Corvettes and the hobby in general. You can email him at ricktavel1@gmail.com